This invention relates to knife constructions and, more particularly, to a method of fixedly mounting a threaded member to the end of a blade tang which is used to thread a securing element completing the handle portion of the knife upon the tang.
A typical knife construction of the non-folding type comprises a knife blade formed with a blade tang extending therefrom about which the handle pieces are secured for manually grasping and working the knife. A hilt may be mounted to the tang adjacent the base of the blade with the handle extending rearwardly therefrom. In some models of such knives, the tang extends through the handle and a stylized securing nut is threadedly engaged to a threaded rod extending integrally from or fixedly mounted to and linearly extending from the end of the tang opposite the blade.
In one prior art design and method, a threaded rod is fusibly joined directly to the base of the blade with the handle passed over the rod and a butt piece attached to the threaded portion of the rod extending exteriorly of the handle. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,104 issued to Cooper on Jul. 27, 1971.
In another prior art design and method, one end of a length of threaded stock is welded into a notch cut or otherwise formed in the proximal end of the blade tang, and in yet a further prior art design and method, a threaded rod is integrally formed at the end of the tang. Each of the prior known designs and methods are time consuming and expensive to implement. In the Cooper method, the resultant knife is weak at the juncture of the tang and knife blade and may snap under excessive working pressures. Furthermore, it is desirable that the blade and tang portions of the knife be very hard while the threaded portion be soft which would require target heat-treating of the Cooper tang.
The second prior design and method mentioned above is undesirable in that the welding process emits heat which affects both the tang and threaded rod resulting in uneven hardness of both.
The third prior design and method mentioned above would seem the most time-consuming and expensive of the three since the threaded rod must be formed by a tedious grinding operation from an integral projection of the stamped blade and tang.